It was at an early age鈥攖he first grade at Our Lady of Peace School in Marshfield, Wisc., to be exact鈥攚hen Chris Krall, S.J., 鈥05, felt a calling to the priesthood. That interest, which he began discerning with the help of a local priest in the years ahead, found support and inspiration during his time at Boston College.
鈥淚 was able to meet with the Jesuits during my junior and senior years of high school,鈥 said Krall, 鈥渁nd to help aid the discernment, I was encouraged to attend Boston College to meet and work with many more amazing Jesuits that lived, worked, and taught on campus.鈥
At least 10 other men have graduated from the University and entered the Society of Jesus during the past 20 years, and many see common themes: the charism, community, and traditions of BC helped support their vocation to the priesthood.
Sam Sawyer, S.J., 鈥00, now an executive editor at America Magazine, is one of them.
鈥淟istening to a talk on Jesuit education during spring of my freshman year, hearing the description of Ignatius and the first companions united by a shared desire to 鈥榟elp souls鈥 鈥 it was like God tapped me on the shoulder to say That鈥檚 the name for what you want鈥,鈥 Sawyer remembered.
鈥淭he idea of becoming a priest was not even on my radar as far as what I saw for myself after graduating from BC,鈥 said Myles Kelley, S.J. 鈥14, who earned a concentration in management and leadership from the Carroll School of Management.
But the 鈥渃alling鈥濃攖hat tap on the shoulder that Sawyer mentions鈥攊sn鈥檛 always immediately recognizable.
鈥淭he idea of becoming a priest was not even on my radar as far as what I saw for myself after graduating from BC,鈥 said Myles Kelley, S.J. 鈥14, who earned a concentration in management and leadership from the Carroll School of Management.
But countless applications and rounds of interviews led nowhere, and Kelley began to rethink his path.
鈥淚n my desperation, I took a step back to reflect,鈥 he recalled. 鈥淚 had gone on a Halftime Retreat a year earlier and then taken a class with Theology Professor Fr. Michael Himes, so, I sat down and thought about his Three Key Questions for Discernment:聽What brings me joy? What am I good at? What does the world need me to be?鈥
This introspection led him to a year of post-graduate service, then onto graduate school at Loyola Marymount University, and toward a realization that he, too, 鈥渨anted to live a life of service鈥 modeled after the Jesuits knew.
鈥淚 could see how God鈥檚 providence was at work all along,鈥 Kelley said, 鈥渆specially in my time at BC.鈥 He is currently in the Jesuit Novitiate of the Three Companions in Culver City, Calif.
Even when one鈥檚 interest in the priesthood becomes clear, the prospect of a vocation can still be 鈥渇rightening,鈥 as Mario Powell, S.J. 鈥03, put it.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really tell anyone,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 remember telling then Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean J. Robert Barth, S.J., but I was so nervous I sounded like a babbling idiot. He was very kind to me.鈥
From there, Powell, who directs the REACH Program at Regis High School in New York City, began opening up to friends that he was thinking about the priesthood. 鈥淚 was so afraid that folks would respond negatively. My experience was the exact opposite. People were amazingly supportive and curious.鈥
Sullivan 鈥淪ully鈥 McCormick, S.J., 鈥15, said friends provided him significant encouragement. 鈥淐lose friends supported my vocation,鈥 he said.
Sullivan 鈥淪ully鈥 McCormick, S.J., 鈥15, said friends provided him significant encouragement. 鈥淐lose friends supported my vocation,鈥 he said. 鈥淪inging in the Liturgy Arts Group surrounded me with people committed to their faith lives and Mass.鈥 McCormick is in the Jesuit Novitiate of St. Stanislaus Kostka at St. Charles College in Louisiana.
And while quick to highlight networks of professors, clubs, and other activities that affirmed their interest in a vocation, these BC grads say, the interaction with priests and Jesuits at Boston College added a level of depth to their discernment.
In the classroom, Krall had several Jesuit professors who showed him the many ways he can live out his vocation. Stephen Schloessor, S.J., a former history professor now at Loyola University Chicago, 鈥渨as the best history teacher I ever had and allowed me to see the influence a teacher can have on students. I still try to model his teaching style.鈥
Another mentor was the late Ronald Anderson, S.J., an associate professor of philosophy who died in 2007. Fr. Anderson, with doctorates in both philosophy and physics, taught The Philosophy of Physics: An Introduction to its Themes, Science, and Religion, and was known on campus for his dedication to scholarship, teaching, and mentoring.
鈥淗e was a big hero,鈥 said Krall, who is now completing his own interdisciplinary doctorate in theology and neuroscience at Marquette University
Today鈥檚 students equally appreciate the relationships formed with BC鈥檚 large Jesuit Community. The Lunches with Jesuits series鈥攕ponsored by Campus Ministry鈥檚 Ignatian Society of Boston College and hosted by the Jesuit Community鈥攖akes place twice-a-week in the St. Mary鈥檚 Hall dining room and brings together five students and a Jesuit for lunch and candid conversation. It is booked throughout the year.
For BC graduates now in the Society of Jesus, those types of candid conversations were key to their vocational journey. They cited more than a dozen past and current BC Jesuits as influential in their discernment, including University President William P. Leahy, S.J., and Frs. Casey Beaumier, Jack Butler, Frank Clooney, Terry Devino, Ted Dziak, Paul McNellis, Joe O鈥橩eefe, Cy Opeil, John Paris, John Savard, Ron Tacelli, and the late Howard Gray and Bill Neenan.
鈥淭hese men were examples of their聽vocation,聽making them more alive and interesting, and of generosity and fidelity as priests and ministers,鈥 Sawyer said of the Jesuits he knew at BC.
Kelley, who converted to Catholicism his sophomore year, said that Fr. Tony Penna, associate vice president for University Mission and Ministry and director of Campus Ministry, introduced him to one of the gifts of religious life: joy.
鈥淔r. Tony鈥檚 example was very formative for me,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 saw the joy of the priesthood and the graces of the vocation. [From there] I got to know Jesuits, as well, and grew to really appreciate their wisdom, presence, and approachability.鈥
鈥淏eing a Jesuit is the hardest thing and the best thing I have ever done. I find great joy in being with men who are trying to do the magis,鈥 said Todd Kenny, S.J. 鈥95, now the vice president of mission and identity at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School.
Todd Kenny, S.J. 鈥95, now the vice president of mission and identity at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School, echoed the importance of joy. 鈥淏eing a Jesuit is the hardest thing and the best thing I have ever done,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 find great joy in being with men who are trying to do the聽尘补驳颈蝉.鈥
That connection to the聽magis鈥攕eeking and working for the more, considering how we can better give ourselves to others鈥攊s a link these men share as Boston College graduates and, now, as Jesuits.
鈥淚t is a brotherhood,鈥 said Patrick Hyland, S.J. 鈥09. 鈥淲hether I am in Boston or San Diego, St. Paul or Guayaquil, Jesuits share a sense of humor, passion for ministry, and desire to change the world.鈥
Students interested in exploring a vocation can stop by the Manresa House (58 College Rd.) or email聽ministry@bc.edu聽to meet with a Jesuit or member of a religious order.
鈥淚t is a brotherhood,鈥 said Patrick Hyland, S.J. 鈥09. 鈥淲hether I am in Boston or San Diego, St. Paul or Guayaquil, Jesuits share a sense of humor, passion for ministry, and desire to change the world.鈥